Help Indie Walk Again: Support Her Recovery

Many of you know our sweet Indie; you know how goofy, dumb, crazy, loving, and how full of energy she is. She loves playing fetch, doesn't matter where or with who. It could be inside, outside, or in any body of water. She would even probably try to play fetch with strangers. She has always been such a loving, happy dog ❤️

A couple of weeks ago, our sweet Indie baby had a horrifying accident while playing fetch. We were just playing our daily fetch, except this time, instead of landing on her feet after jumping for her toy, she landed on her lower back

We immediately realized she had some sort of spinal cord injury and rushed her to the animal hospital. After they rushed her back, we were told that we would need to put a $5,000 deposit down for anything they had to do. This included the visit, MRI, and any necessary medical interventions. We were also informed that there was a possibility of owing more at the end of the visit; unfortunately, we did. The neurologist told us that in her initial assessment, Indie was not in pain, but her back legs and tail were completely paralyzed. However, she could still feel pain in her toes and tail, which was a great sign! We were told that she needed to stay overnight for her MRI and for closer observation.

We found out that Indie has a herniated disc (best case scenario!), severe bruising on her spinal cord, and urine retention due to her losing bladder function. She also told us that the first 48 hours are the most crucial for observation due to her having the possibility of getting worse. They kept her overnight and allowed us to take her home the next day. They wanted to keep her for an additional night, but since we both have medical experience, they were more than okay with us taking her home.

The first couple of days were great, definitely a learning curve but nothing we couldn't handle. Just constant loves and resting, and then the occasional bladder massage.

Within the first week, Indie developed a very severe UTI very fast. We were both extremely concerned that she may become septic, and the neurologist agreed that she needed to come back in for reevaluation. She told us that Indie is not healing as expected and that this could be an indicator that she might not regain full function. She also had a very severe UTI, as well as really bad skin breakdown from constant urination from her UTI. Poor girl went from taking a couple of pills twice a day to a whole cocktail of them multiple times a day.

Today we had another check-up, and this time we got great news! Indie is healing well, her skin breakdown is almost completely healed, as well as her UTI. She has also regained enough function that the neurologist referred her to physical therapy to help her walk again!

We knew her recovery process was going to be hard, but saying it kicked our butts is an understatement. Not only was this physically hard with the 2-hour pee checks throughout the night, the daily baths, and much more, but it's also been very hard on us financially. The initial visit used up the majority of our savings, and the rest has been put on credit cards. We are so relieved that Indie is finally having some good news regarding her leg function. However, we can't help but be concerned about how we're going to pay for everything...

We weren't planning on making a GoFundMe mainly because I don't like asking for help, but with how much everything is adding up financially, we would greatly appreciate any kind of help, and I know Indie would really appreciate it too ❤️